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Virbhadra turns the tables on BJP Questions in Assembly DC opens ropeway Bid to grab panchayat
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45-cr benefit to accrue from
Chamera Blackout in Chamba following power
failure AIDS awareness camp inaugurated Contributory pension scheme launched
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Virbhadra turns the tables on BJP Shimla, June 9 Replying to a discussion on the issue, he said the decision of the then Chief Minister, Mr P.K. Dhumal, to place the MoU before the House at the fag-end of his term after implementing it clandestinely for three years was a “clever deception” but the Congress did not fall prey to it. The clauses regarding which BJP leaders were making a hue and cry had not only been accepted by the Dhumal government but also implemented and action-taken report sent to the Centre periodically. And yet instead of owning responsibility for his decisions, Mr Dhumal was washing his hands of the MoU, the Chief Minister said. He placed in the House a copy of the MoU signed by the then Chief Secretary, Mr A.K. Goswamy, on behalf of the state with the Centre on April 12 ,1999, to carry out fiscal reforms which was implemented subsequently. On its basis, a medium-term fiscal forecast (MTFF) and a medium-term fiscal restructuring programme was formulated to find a solution to the state’s financial crisis. Various clauses of the MoU were implemented by setting up of the electricity regulatory commission, offering 23 properties of the state tourism development corporation to the private sector under the agreed disinvestment programme, withdrawing budgetary support to public sector undertakings, imposing a ban on the filling of vacant posts, the abolition of posts lying vacant for more than two years, reduction in the fleet of the state road transport corporation, downsizing of the government setup from top to bottom by abolishing several posts, winding up offices of the Divisional Commissioner and merger of some other departments. The government informed the Centre that it had stopped the appointment of daily-wage workers, abolished 1,006 posts in various departments, announced a contributory pension scheme for employees, frozen subsidies to farm sector and imposed user charges on water, irrigation and health services. The fact that the MoU was being implemented clandestinely became apparent from the letter Mr Dhumal wrote to Mr Yashwant Sinha, the then Finance Minister, in which he stated that internal directions had been issued to the Finance Department not to give clearance for filling any post. Mr Virbhadra Singh said all this while the government did not make any mention of the MoU , though Mr Dhumal, in his budget speeches for 2000-01 and 2001-02, did announce some measures. However, he backtracked from the reform agenda in the election year, which deprived the state of the reform-linked revenue deficit grants from the Centre, the Chief Minister added. He said his government had only completed the process started by the Dhumal regime in 1999. The signing of the MoU had become inevitable not only because it had been accepted and partly implemented by the previous government but also due to the condition laid down by the Centre that no externally aided project would be recommended for the states which failed to sign the MoU. Himachal Pradesh was not the only state to sign it as 16 states had signed the agreement before it, he said. He claimed that he got many of the conditions relaxed and made the MoU much more flexible. There would be no blanket ban on recruitment and functional posts would be filled. Instead of two years, posts vacant for three years would be abolished and appointment on compassionate grounds would be continued under a new policy. Initiating the discussion, Mr Dhumal said the Congress had opposed the reforms all along and it had come to power by exploiting the issue to the hilt. However, on coming to power, it had no hesitation in signing the document which they had been opposing tooth and nail. Neither the Vidhan Sabha was taken into confidence nor the employees and other sections of society which would be affected by it were consulted before taking such an important decision, Mr Dhumal said. He said he had placed the MoU before the House on March 28,2002, to evolve a consensus on the issue and a committee was set up for the purpose. But the Congress refused to be associated with it. Its members quit the committee one after the other. He said even now the matter had not been debated upon even in the Congress Legislative Party, let alone the House. Mr Dhumal said his government did take certain measures in pursuance of economic reforms but when it was felt that it was difficult to implement them due to opposition from the people, it rolled back some of them. He said he had brought about a white paper which covered a period of almost 20 years to ascertain where things had gone wrong. Things started deteriorating after the recommendation of the Ninth Finance Commission, he claimed. The MoU would have long-term implications for various sections, particularly the employees and the farming community, and they would feel the pinch in due course, Mr Dhumal added. |
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Questions in Assembly Shimla, June 9 Stating this during question hour Mr Kaul Singh, Irrigation and Public Health Minister, said that the scheme had been scrapped by the Centre on the plea that funds were being provided for these purposes under other programmes. However, the RIDF had become an important scheme for a hill state like Himachal and so it had urged the Centre to review its decision. Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, had already written to the Prime Minister and the Union Finance Minister and urged them to again bring water supply and road projects under the RIDF. He said the decision was applicable to all states. He told Mr Ravinder Ravi that in all Rs 25.17 crore was sanctioned for water supply and irrigation projects under the RIDF during 2003-04. Replying to a question of Mr I.D. Dhiman he said out of the 52 rural water supply schemes in Hamirpur district the augmentation of 13 had been completed and it was in progress in the case of 30 other schemes. The remaining 13 would be examined and, if required, augmentation plans would be prepared for these also. He said out of the total of 13,180 hand pumps installed in the state 585 were out of order. Mrs Asha Kumari, Education Minister, informed Mr Sukh Ram(BJP) that the appointment of para-teachers was a temporary arrangement and as such the reservation policy was not followed while making recruitment. The appointments had been made in accordance with the policy framed by the government in this regard last year. Answering a question of Mr Mohinder Singh, Mr
G.S. Bali, Transport Minister, said that the income of the state road transport corporation had increased by Rs 21.50 crore and an amount of Rs 8.50 crore had been saved by improving efficiency and taking other measures. He said 51 bus services had been discontinued. Further, 2,267 routes were recording losses and during March 1, 2003, to May 15, 2004, a loss of Rs 61.86 crore was incurred. |
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DC opens ropeway Nahan, June 9 Addressing villagers, the DC said the repair and maintenance of the ropeway would be the responsibility of the panchayat. A former MLA, Mr Ajay Bahadur, said owing to backwardness and poverty in the Dhartidhar area, special attention should be given to development by initiating long-term schemes. The Project Officer, DRDA, Mr Rajesh Kumar, said six ropeways were being constructed with the help of the DRDA in the district. —
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Bid to grab panchayat
land Nurpur, June 9 The residents yesterday convened a meeting, presided over by its pradhan Mr Yasufdeen. They expressed concern over encroachment of the prime land which was, according to revenue record, classified as grazing land, with its ownership with the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra. They warned to launch an agitation to remove encroachment. The previous government had earmarked this land for parking to the trust but since the land was never used for this purpose, as a result, the Deputy Commissioner, Kangra, following the recommendation of Subdivisional Magistrate, Nurpur, repealed the notification on May 22 this year. Meanwhile, Dr N.K. Lath, SDM Nurpur, denied any connivance of the administration with the trust to encroach upon the said land as published in a section of Press. He clarified that the encroachers had been served notice to stop construction. |
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45-cr benefit to accrue from
Chamera Dalhousie, June 9 Mr S. K. Dodeja, Executive Director of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) said here today that the Chamera project (stage-II) had been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 2004 crore by the NHPC on a turnkey basis with an Indo-Canadian Consortium led by the Jai Prakash Industries. Mr Dodeja stated that three generating units of 100 MW each had been put into power production round-the-clock and as such the project would generate 1500 million units of electricity in a 90 per cent dependable year, which would be fed to Northern Grid for further distribution to beneficiary states of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Chandigarh, Delhi and Rajasthan, in addition to 12 per cent free power to the home state. |
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Blackout in Chamba following power
failure Chamba, June 9 Earlier, there was an official shutdown of power yesterday due to which all commercial and industrial establishments remained paralysed. As a result, the entire telecommunication network was badly hit. In the absence of power supply, water supply and health services in the zonal hospital were also affected. The pre-monsoon rain accompanied by gale had blown off tin roofs of buildings at different places. Meanwhile, officials of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board (HPSEB) confirmed that at least six discs in the transmission lines had been burnt by lightning causing a loss of Rs 1 lakh. However, power supply was restored this morning following persistent efforts by the HPSEB staff during the night. The loss is estimated to be about Rs 2 crore, Revenue Department sources said. |
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AIDS awareness camp inaugurated Kangra, June 9 It was inaugurated by Dr T D Sharma, Principal, Family Welfare and Training Centre here, which is the prime institution in this part of the state working towards creating awareness and highlighting the methods of preventing AIDS. Teachers from Kangra, Chambal, Una, Hamirpur and Bilaspur are participating. Mr Sharma said these camps were being organised by the H.P. AIDS Control Organisation in collaboration with the State government and the state Council for Education Research Training (SCERT). |
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Contributory pension scheme launched Shimla, June 9 Addressing a press conference here today, the Chairman of the bank, Mr Natha Singh Thakur, said 30 retired employees who were eligible for the scheme had been given cheques under the scheme. He said theirs was the first cooperative bank in the country to introduce this scheme. He said about 60 families would benefit from the scheme, which would cover the risk of unforeseen exigencies such as death.
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